Helicentre awards 15 professional pilot scholarships

Helicentre Aviation Academy has announced the winners of its 2018 Professional Helicopter Pilot Scholarship Programme. Tom Oliver from Sheffield received the prestigious Commercial Pilot Scholarship award worth £50,000, and … Continued

In addition, 13 of the academy’s trainee helicopter pilots have received part-funded scholarships towards their Commercial Pilot and Flight Instructor courses.

The prize fund totalled £150,000, the most the company has awarded in a single year. A cumulative total of £650,000 worth of training has been awarded since 2012.

Tom currently holds a PPL(H) and is a student on the BSc (Hons) Professional Aviation Pilot Practice (Helicopter) degree programme delivered as a joint initiative between Helicentre Aviation and Middlesex University.

The scholarship Tom has been awarded will fully fund the flight training costs of the modular CPL(H) course, including ATPL(H)/IR Theoretical Knowledge training and all post-PPL(H) hour building in the Cabri G2 helicopter.

Once qualified as a Commercial Helicopter Pilot, Tom’s total flight time will be close to 200 hours and he will be offered a Line Pilot position with the company.

On hearing the news of the award, Tom said, “I would like to thank everyone at Helicentre for the opportunity. I am so grateful and ready to buckle down for the hard work so I can progress on with my flying career.”

Janine Lythe won the “life-changing” 2017 CPL(H) scholarship, seen here on the left receiving her certificate from Helicentre’s Sarah Bowen.

The life-changing award paid for all her professional flight training to CPL(H) and she is now ready to start the FI(H) course which will allow her to join the company as a full-time Flight Instructor from June this year.

Applications for Helicentre Aviation’s 2020 Scholarship Programme have now opened. To be eligible for selection, applicants must submit their application forms by 31 December 2019 and complete their Private Pilot Licence (Helicopter) with Helicentre Aviation before 30 September 2020.

Prospective applicants can register their interest in the 2020 Scholarship Programme, as well as find entry criteria and the application form here.